HILMI JOHANDI
Shortly after arriving at Hilmi Johandi’s studio at Goodman Arts Centre, the artist informs me that he’s moving in two weeks to a more spacious—and cooler—studio elsewhere at Goodman. Indeed, after only minutes in his narrow work area, it’s obvious that, while the concept of creating artist spaces from repurposed shipping containers is innovative, painting their exteriors black may have been counterintuitive, given the tropical climate.
Built in the 1960s, Goodman Arts Centre is a 4,000-squaremeter enclave situated in a tranquil residential neighborhood on the east side of Singapore’s Geylang River. Johandi has been working from this particular space for the past year: its white-walled interior is filled with light—sometimes so much so that the glare and heat compromise his oil paintings, and he has to cover the
